The Income Tax department on Wednesday said it has launched a functionality for scheduled commercial banks to check status of income tax returns filed by entities based on their Permanent Account Number (PAN).

It said the data on cash withdrawal had indicated that huge amount of cash is being withdrawn by persons who have never filed income tax returns.

To ensure filing of return by these persons and to keep track on cash withdrawals by non-filers, and to curb black money, the Finance Act, 2020 with effect from July 1, 2020, further amended I-T Act, 1961, to lower the threshold of cash withdrawal to Rs 20 lakh for the applicability of TDS for non-filers.

It also mandated TDS at a higher rate of 5 per cent on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore by non-filers. MuhammadThe Income Tax department has already provided a functionality ‘Verification of applicability u/s 194N’ for banks and post offices since July 1, 2020.

Through a notification on August 31, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) included ‘scheduled commercial banks’ in the list of agencies with which tax authorities can share information.